I handed the cab driver a slip of paper with an address written on it in Thai. He looked at it, raised his eyebrow, and handed it back.

“Too far.”

I waded through the sticky Bangkok heat back to the street corner and waited for another cab. I was trying to get to a remote village 30 miles outside of the city, well beyond the reach of public transportation. People had warned me that getting a cab driver to take me there may be difficult. I picked another cab out of the gridlock of traffic in front of me and tried again. The slender middle-aged driver read the address carefully and checked a map. To my surprise, he gave me a weak smile and agreed.

One of my rules of thumb is to never trust cab drivers in Thailand. To be fair, the tuk tuk drivers are really the ones that have earned this reputation, but the cab drivers are only marginally better. As we pulled away, my eyes gravitated to the driver’s taxi license on the dash. Sure enough, the picture matched up and I made a note of his name. The meter was running–so far so good. I decided to feel him out with some small talk.

“How’s your day going so far? Bad traffic, huh?”

“Yes. Very bad. It’s always bad though, so I’m used to it.”

The trip was supposed to take an hour or more, depending on traffic. We started talking about Bangkok, what I was doing there, the weather, etc. Eventually, the conversation shifted toward cost of living and wages. He lamented the fact that Thailand was so cheap for foreigners, but wages were extremely low for the locals and how hard it was to make ends meet. He had been driving as many hours as possible to try to make extra money. He casually remarked that he had been going since 10pm the night before, driving through the night. I looked down at my phone and checked the time…he had been going for well over 12 hours straight.

“Is it OK if I smoke? It helps keep me awake.”

“Sure,” I said. I generally like for my taxi drivers to be conscious.

After about thirty minutes of conversing with this man, I trusted him. He was friendly, we had good conversation, and he was doing me a big favor by driving to the middle of nowhere. Just another good person trying to get by.

As the city traffic turned into less crowded freeways, our conversation became more sporadic. I looked up and noticed him nodding off. I thought it was just a twitch, but then it happened again. This guy was clearly falling asleep.

I instantly perked up and started talking to him. I figured if he was talking to me it would be harder for him to fall asleep. I forced as many words out of him as I could, like a desperate guy on a bad date. He pulled out another cigarette. I hate the smell of tobacco smoke, but each puff was reassurance that our car wasn’t going to fly into a ditch yet. He smoked another cigarette, and another. Then he pulled over on the side of a four-lane highway.

“I have to pee.”

There I was, sitting on the side of a road in a Thai taxi while my driver greeted the stream of passing cars with a stream of his own. This was definitely one of those “WTF am I doing here?” moments.

We finally arrived to my destination. I was only going to be about two hours, so I offered to pay the same price for a ride back if the cab driver was willing to wait. I figured he could really use a nap, and I could really use a trustworthy (and well-rested) taxi driver. He accepted the offer.

I returned a few hours later and found my driver waiting as promised. I was relieved to be hopping in the car with a freshly rested cabbie. I asked him if he had a nice nap…

“Too hot. Couldn’t sleep.”

It’s a miracle I made it back.

]]>https://iter97.com/2015/01/25/bangkok-taxi/feed/0iter97thai street sign10 things I learned in my first week living in New York Cityhttps://iter97.com/2015/01/14/10-things-i-learned-in-my-first-week-living-in-new-york-city/
https://iter97.com/2015/01/14/10-things-i-learned-in-my-first-week-living-in-new-york-city/#respondWed, 14 Jan 2015 03:57:34 +0000http://iter97.com/?p=341Continue reading →]]>1. If you get bored here, you’re either stupid or broke. Probably the latter.

2. It’s dirty. Honestly, I’ve seen more trash in the streets and around the subways than any other 1st world city I can remember.

3. Cash is king. Cash only bars and 15$ card minimums will make you think you’ve left America.

4. It can snow underground. No really. Subway vents+wind=underground flurries.

5. New Yorkers are perfectly fine with insane commutes. 1.5 hours each way on a bus, ferry, and two trains is completely acceptable.

6. People are blunt, not mean. With as many people as you have to interact with daily, it’s simply a matter of saving time. However, people will give up their seat on a subway in a heartbeat.

7. “The Melting Pot” is real. The city is a well-shuffled deck of cards. You’ll have an Egyptian cab driver take you to Chinatown to eat with your Danish friend while a Jamaican guy plays the drums outside the restaurant.

8. New Yorkers have impeccable balance. The “C” train is exceptionally jerky, but nobody ever falls over…except for tourists. Tourists fall all the time.

9. Brooklyn Nets tickets are absurdly cheap. 10 dollars for a seat at a brand new arena in the most expensive city in the country…and the team (unlike the Knicks) is decent?! How is this possible?

10. New York is the best and worst of America. It’s a place with limitless opportunity and incredible diversity, ruled by materialism and the 80 hour work week.

]]>https://iter97.com/2015/01/14/10-things-i-learned-in-my-first-week-living-in-new-york-city/feed/0iter97Grand Army PlazaLying through perspectivehttps://iter97.com/2015/01/06/lying-through-perspective/
https://iter97.com/2015/01/06/lying-through-perspective/#respondTue, 06 Jan 2015 04:08:45 +0000http://iter97.com/?p=344Continue reading →]]>You’re on a dream trip in some beautiful, exotic setting. You’re approaching an amazing overlook and you start climbing hurriedly toward the top of the ridge, reaching for your camera. Just then, you crest the summit and see that fifty other people already beat you to it.

None of the places you drool over in travel magazines and on Instagram are a secret. To most experienced travelers, the excitement of approaching the Taj Mahal, Maya Bay, or Salar de Uyuni is tampered by the voice in the back of your head telling you there will probably be a lot more people there than you had hoped. If you don’t have that nagging buzzkill lurking in your head, then the let down is even worse when you do arrive to a huge crowd of people.

Moab, UT. The same arch photographed from two different angles a mere twenty minutes apart.

So there are two options:

1.) You lie. You wait until you finally get a 4 second break in foot-traffic and you twist and contort your body to take a picture of that overlook with no elbows or shadows in the frame.Your friends see the picture of this “hidden gem” and rave about how beaaaauuuutiful it is. You even lie to yourself, convinced that this is the way it really appeared.

2.) You accept reality. You embrace the fact that the place you are at is crowded for a reason. It’s amazing. Hoards of people flock to that spot you’re at every day because it’s one of the coolest places on earth. Although you’d rather be the first to discover it, you make peace with the fact that it’s still cool.

When you lay it out like that, I think most of us would like to agree that the latter is the more admirable choice. But what if lying isn’t so bad? If you look at it another way, the place is amazing for what it is, not for the people or traffic that surround it. Why not remember it for what makes it great, the way it was likely intended to be seen? I find that when looking back at pictures where I have lied to myself, the memories are all positive feelings and nostalgia. I see it in a perfect light so many times that eventually it becomes my reality. Call it rose colored glasses but is a positive memory built on a lie better than a forgettable experience built on truth?

Would you rather remember the lazy lioness in the middle of a paved road, or the majestic male 10 feet to her right?

More lying via photography

]]>https://iter97.com/2015/01/06/lying-through-perspective/feed/0iter97Moab, UT. The same arch photographed from two different angles a mere twenty minutes apart.Would you rather remember the lazy lioness in the middle of a paved road, or the majestic male 10 feet to her right?Lying through perspectiveHow I Afford to Travel… And You May Not Like What I’m Going To Sayhttps://iter97.com/2014/12/12/how-i-afford-to-travel-and-you-may-not-like-what-im-going-to-say/
https://iter97.com/2014/12/12/how-i-afford-to-travel-and-you-may-not-like-what-im-going-to-say/#commentsThu, 11 Dec 2014 23:23:49 +0000http://iter97.com/2014/12/12/how-i-afford-to-travel-and-you-may-not-like-what-im-going-to-say/Kate from the States: The honest truth – I never have the money I need to travel, but I buy the ticket anyway. I’ve realized that money comes and goes, but the more I make, the harder…]]>

A great post that shows “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” No excuses!

The honest truth – I never have the money I need to travel, but I buy the ticket anyway. I’ve realized that money comes and goes, but the more I make, the harder it is to part with it and weirdly, the less I have, the easier it becomes to budget.

I don’t do that saving account, checking account, travel account thing either. I am not rational. I am extreme. I want to travel and so I do. There is no in between. While I was working my first career job in public relations, I realized early on that it was going to take me forever to save all the money I would need to see the world. I come from a middle class family, I’m the middle child of five and I live in one of the most expensive places in America – Long Island, New York. I don’t…

Osijek (pronounced OSS-yek) is a small city in far eastern Croatia, near the Serbian border. It is the largest city in the Slavonia region and the 4th largest in Croatia with a population of around 120,000. Unlike Croatia’s famous Dalmatian Coast, Osijek is relatively unknown to foreigners. Is it worth a visit? Maybe. I found it to be a pretty peculiar place.

Image via Google Maps

The city center is pretty typical of Europe–lots of old buildings, some cobblestone streets, and shops/bars/cafes. The one notable difference is that many of the buildings are marred with bullet holes. Definitely eyebrow raising, but the violence that created them has ended. However, it’s a stark reminder that only 20 years ago there was a brutal conflict going on here. Osijek sustained heavy damage during the War of Croatian Independence.

Food is pretty notorious in Slavonia apparently, although I didn’t find it to be too different from other nearby regions (lots of sausage and hearty meals). Burek is one of their signature dishes–a flaky pastry filled with meat or cheese, originating in the former Ottoman Empire.

Image via Wikipedia

Drinking is where it gets good. Slavonia is a big wine producing region, famous for it’s Graševina white wines. It may not be as well-known as France or Napa Valley, but there are plenty of good wineries in the area to explore. If beer is more your style, Osijek has the oldest brewery in the country. A cold one will run you no more than 1-2 USD at a bar. Even cocktails are usually under 5 USD at bars and clubs. These prices are significantly cheaper than Zagreb and are more akin to neighboring Belgrade, Serbia. The nightlife itself has parallels to Belgrade as well, with large boats permanently moored along the river functioning as nightclubs. Between the river and the nearby old fortress district called Tvrđa, there are lots of cool nightlife venues…but with one catch. Although Osijek has a population of over 100,000 and a numerous bars and clubs, don’t try to go out on any day that isn’t Saturday. I was told that nobody goes out except for on Saturdays, but I didn’t really believe it. I tested my luck and visited a popular club in Tvrđa on a Friday night. My hosts told me that on Saturdays the venue is packed so tightly that you can’t move. But this was a Friday. We were the first and only people there for quite some time. When we left, the number of patrons had ballooned to somewhere around ten. We tried a boat venue on the river. Dead. Again, we were the only ones there. This time, nobody else joined us during the hour we were there. I found this extremely odd for two reasons:

1) Why doesn’t anybody go out on a Friday night? Nobody?!
2) Why on earth do these bars/clubs bother to open on nights when less than ten customers will show up the whole night?

Strange.

There really isn’t a ton to do in the city itself, however there are some areas of interest within a short drive. The war-torn city of Vukovar is 22 miles Southeast of Osijek. Vukovar sustained the heaviest damage from the war in the early 90’s; it’s said to be the worst destruction of a city since World War 2. Also nearby is Kopački Rit, the largest natural wetlands in Europe. The area is famous for bird watching, but there isn’t much in the way of tourism. Apparently there is a company that does guided tours, but all of the park information is in Croatian. Lastly, there are natural thermal spas in nearby Bizovac that are cheaper and less crowded than those in Zagreb.

The locals don’t speak a ton of English, but were all very nice. They seemed to be thrilled to have visitors come to their neck of the woods and were excited to show us anything and everything that their city had to offer. I was invited into a family’s home I had never met for three nights, a free private wine tasting, a full winery tour by the owner, and an offer to stay with another winery owner across the river in Serbia. Talk about hospitality. Overall, Osijek is never going to become the next must-see place in Europe. However, it’s not too far from Zagreb and has a totally different (more Eastern European) feel. Combine that with friendly people and cheap prices; how can you go wrong?

Millennials are rejecting the Boomer philosophy of “He who dies with the most toys wins” and replacing it with “He who dies with the most experiences wins.”

Isn’t that a much more fulfilling way to live?

]]>https://iter97.com/2014/11/28/the-future-is-bright/feed/0iter97Why you should never take the trip of a lifetimehttps://iter97.com/2014/11/20/why-you-should-never-take-the-trip-of-a-lifetime/
https://iter97.com/2014/11/20/why-you-should-never-take-the-trip-of-a-lifetime/#respondThu, 20 Nov 2014 18:21:55 +0000http://iter97.com/?p=312Continue reading →]]>The phrase “trip of a lifetime” needs to be retired. By adding those three simple worlds to an upcoming or recently completed trip, you are giving up. If I say that my round-the-world trip was the journey of a lifetime, I’m accepting that no trip in the future will ever match what I just did. I’ll never see so many amazing places or meet as many awesome people as I did during those 100 days. I would be writing off every future trip I dream of taking as second place at best.

Have you ever heard Peyton Manning say in a post-game interview, “This game will go down as the greatest performance of my entire career”? Of course not. By doing that, he is putting a lid on his potential and accepting that he will never play that well again. For someone who loves to travel, why would you stamp this kind of an inflection point on your life? Everything before then was on the way up, and everything after is downhill. Maybe on your deathbed you can reflect and decide which journey was your trip of a lifetime. Until then, look forward to every trip like it could be the best one of your life.

]]>https://iter97.com/2014/11/20/why-you-should-never-take-the-trip-of-a-lifetime/feed/0iter97Europe or Southeast Asia? Which is better for American backpackers?https://iter97.com/2014/11/12/europe-or-southeast-asia-which-is-better-for-american-backpackers/
https://iter97.com/2014/11/12/europe-or-southeast-asia-which-is-better-for-american-backpackers/#commentsWed, 12 Nov 2014 18:59:27 +0000http://iter97.com/?p=301Continue reading →]]>I talk to countless people that want to travel long-term, the majority of them being (American) college students who are just months away from graduation. They usually ask about my RTW trip and then tell me how they’ve always thought about backpacking around Europe after graduation. Why is it always Europe?!

OK, I get it. South America can have significant language barriers, Africa’s infrastructure isn’t ideal for backpacking, etc. There are more ideal options for your first extended trip. Europe is great, but so many Americans overlook Asia–in particular, Southeast Asia. Let’s look at some of the pros and cons of the two most popular backpacking areas for a young first-time backpacker:

Accessibility:

Unless you live in Hawaii, Europe is going to be significantly closer and easier to reach than Southeast Asia. Less connections, less time in a plane, less jet lag. But what about the cost? Surprisingly, they are about the same. I just checked Expedia for flights from Los Angeles to Bangkok in May (right after most graduations). 866 dollars round trip. For the same dates, New York to London is 951 dollars. Changing dates and cities will lead to different results, but the bottom line is that Asia is not significantly more expensive to get to; it just takes a little more time. As for Visas, Europe is a cinch for Americans (thank you Schengen Agreement). Most countries don’t require visas in advance. Asia can be just as easy, but some countries have more difficult processes and restrictions. For example, you can only stay in Thailand for two weeks if arriving by land (Hint: Take a puddle jumper and you can stay four weeks).

Advantage: Europe

Getting Around:

Europe is famous for its high-speed trains and efficient transportation network. Unfortunately, as a backpacker, you probably won’t be able to afford any of these high-speed trains. But it’s true, getting around Western Europe is a snap. With low-cost flight options like RyanAir and stupid cheap international buses (Student Agency Bus), you don’t even need trains. If you do want to go that route, the Eurail passescan be a good deal but you have to do your homework. While most of Europe is very easy to get around, it’s worth noting that some places in Eastern Europe can be much tougher. I got stuck in Croatia for over two days trying to get to Budapest (which was only three hours away by car). Many bus/train routes in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia Herzegovina have been canceled or are seasonal.

Southeast Asia conjures up images of rickety motorcycle taxis zooming through traffic, and occasionally that’s accurate. However, the region also has ridiculously cheap airlines like Air Asia (I got a flight from Malaysia to Thailand for 44 dollars), a respectable train network, and efficient ferries. It’s dirt cheap to get around the region and you can often do combined ferry and bus journeys with one ticket. An added benefit of Southeast Asia is that it is incredibly inexpensive to rent a moped, giving you the freedom to explore on your own. With all of this being said, Europe does have an overall more modern and reliable transportation network, so despite the savings in Asia, Europe wins by a hair.

Advantage: Europe

Weather:

Different people like different weather, but in general, do you want to be in a swimsuit or a rain jacket? Europe is beautiful in the summer, but it can be rainy and winters are cold. Southeast Asia will make you sweat A LOT, but you’ll be rewarded with shorts year-round and lots of sun. You’ll see plenty of storms, especially in the monsoon season, but they generally pass quickly. One huge advantage of warm weather is that summer clothes take up a fraction of backpack space that winter clothes do.

Advantage: Southeast Asia

Croatia in April vs. Thailand in April

History:

If you’re into history, Europe is the place to be. While many 20-somethings associate history with boring museums, there’s nothing like seeing the Berlin Wall or the Coliseum in person. Southeast Asia has plenty of interesting history too; Angkor Wat could top just about any historical building in Europe. But when it comes down to it, Europe can’t be beat.

Advantage: Europe

Things to do:

Obviously there is a ton to do in both regions. The way I look at it is that Europe has a lot to see, Southeast Asia has a lot to do. If you want to visit lots of historical landmarks and see shows then Europe is ideal. If scuba diving and hanging out with elephants are more your style then go to Southeast Asia.

Advantage: Depends on your preference

Nightlife:

Europe is legendary for its nightlife and rightfully so; the club scenes in Ibiza and Berlin are the best in the world. Bars and clubs stay open until sunrise. Not only that, but you can drink your weight in the best beer and wine that money can buy.

At the same time, Southeast Asia is wild. Full moon/half moon parties are no secret anymore, but when you arrive to Haad Rin for the first time, your mind will be blown. In addition, you can find Spain-caliber clubs in Singapore; Zouk is one of the top ten in the world. And the things you’ll see on Khao San Road in Bangkok will make Vegas seem like a nice wholesome town. Europe will meet your highest nightlife expectations; Southeast Asia will take your expectations and turn them upside down.

Advantage: Toss up

Food:

How do you compare a home-cooked Italian meal in Tuscany to the delicious hawker food in Singapore? You don’t. The food in both regions is amazing.

Advantage: Toss up

Cost:

This seems cut and dried: Europe=expensive, Asia=cheap. Sure, London and Paris are some of the most expensive cities in the world. But you have to look at the whole picture. Budapest is very cheap and it gets better the further east you go. By the time you get to Serbia and Bulgaria, it’s cheaper than many Asian destinations. If you are leaning toward Europe, don’t forget about the East! On the flip side, many people don’t realize that Singapore is one of the most expensive cities in the world. Still, when averaged out, Europe just can’t match the seven dollar a night hostels and 25 cent beers of Southeast Asia. Your dollar goes further than in the Eurozone which means you can afford to travel longer.

Advantage: Southeast Asia

Language Barrier:

This really depends on where you are. In Western Europe, almost everyone will speak some English. In Singapore, English is one of the official languages. In Eastern Europe, English is less common but still widely spoken among younger generations. And many travelers are surprised to find out how common English is in Asia. Generally speaking, English speakers will have no problem getting around any major city or tourist destination in either area. However, if you go to a rural village in northern Myanmar or a small town in Eastern Croatia, you may find yourself doing lots of hand motions.

Advantage: Toss up

X-Factor:

In my opinion, the best part about Europe is how small the countries are and how easy it is to jump between them. You can be at a bullfight and eating tapas in Madrid, and be listening to bagpipe music in the Scottish highlands the next day. Europe is like a variety pack of your favorite candy.

As for Southeast Asia, I love the complete shock of it all. As an American, going to Europe really isn’t that different from home. If you took a picture on a random street in New York, London, Berlin, and Barcelona, it would be hard to tell them apart. To be fair, you could do that in parts of Singapore or Kuala Lumpur too. But, you won’t find anything remotely similar to a wet market in Singapore’s Little India, flushing a toilet with a bucket in Laos, or cruising through Ha Long Bay on a junk boat in Vietnam. You become a sponge, absorbing every little detail of your surroundings. Europe is well within most Americans’ comfort zone. If you want a truly unique experience then throw yourself into Southeast Asia.

Advantage: Southeast Asia

Conclusion:

The final tally comes to 3-3 with a bunch of ties. Call me indecisive, but they truly are neck and neck. It comes down to preference. If you haven’t noticed yet, I prefer Southeast Asia. For me, Europe starts to blend together. In my opinion, you can only see so many old buildings and drink at so many hole-in-the-wall bars before they lose their luster. Sometimes I have trouble trying to remember if I saw something in Zagreb or Vienna. At the end of the day, I like to do things. I find Southeast Asia to be much better for action based activities. Also, I enjoy how different Asia is from home and I love warm weather. With all of that being said, don’t let anyone ever tell you where to travel. If you want to go to Europe, then go. My aim for this post isn’t to tell people why they shouldn’t go to Europe, it’s to open people’s eyes to Southeast Asia. For Americans, backpacking often leads to snap associations with (Western) Europe. Hopefully this post is useful for anyone that is weighing all of their options. Happy planning!

With one foot on the bus and one on the street, I waited for confirmation from the bus driver. I was hunched over from the weight of my 60 Liter backpack and clearly stood out from the commuters that filled the Miami bus. The driver nodded and I sat down near the front of the bus across from a few disinterested elderly passengers. I heard a voice from a few rows back on the bus.

“You trying to catch the Tri-Rail?”

I looked back to see a man in his fifties or early sixties, several days removed from a shower with greasy hair and a face full of stubble. He was wearing jeans and a denim jacket, but it was his hat that caught my attention–“Vietnam War Veteran.”

I responded with a quick glance and a disinterested “yeah.” The man scurried up to the front and sat across from me.

“I’ll let you know where you need to get off. I take the Tri-Rail all the time. You just gotta get off up here at Government Center and take the Metrorail to Metro Center. You can catch the Tri-Rail there.”

“Thanks,” I replied. I appreciated the directions, but wasn’t too interested in carrying on the conversation.

He continued to tell me about the intricacies of the Miami Public Transit station for the next ten minutes. He explained the difference between the Metrorail and the Tri-Rail, how much each ticket I needed would cost, and how many stops I would go on each leg of the journey. It was clear this guy knew his way around, but I didn’t trust his intentions. As I got off at the Metrorail stop, I fully expected for him to grab me by the shoulder and ask for a few bucks for the help. Instead, he got off with me.

“I’m going the same way. I’ll walk with you.”

We rode the escalator as he continued to guide me through every single step of the ticket buying process. I kept my words to a minimum and tried to carry on as if I were on my own and he just happened to be walking alongside me. As we rode the escalator toward the tracks, he informed me that I would have to get a fare card before I could buy credits and that it cost extra. I was still expecting him to ask me to buy him his next ride, when he instead offered me his fare card.

“I have this extra one. It doesn’t have any money on it, but it’ll save you from having to buy one. Here ya go.”

Wow. Maybe this guy is alright.

He waited for me as I loaded money onto the fare card and we walked up to the platform. He started telling me all kinds of Miami history, explaining each building of the skyline in detail.

“None of this was here back in the 70s. All of this…it popped up in the 80s and 90s. You wanna know how? Cocaine. Coke money built all of this.”

I was intrigued by the idea, but not really sure I believed his theory (Turns out he’s right). Nevertheless, I started to come around to the idea that maybe this guy was just really friendly. He told me that he was going to visit his daughter up in Hialeah. Sure enough, she called him and they talked on the phone for a few minutes. He told me all about her and his ex-wife.

We hopped on the Metrorail train and he kept talking. I started to open up and made an effort to converse with him. I still thought that he may have been a little off or looking for a pay out when we finally parted ways, but he was helpful and exceptionally friendly. The least I could do was be a passing friend to him. He probably just wanted someone to talk to on his trip.

We chatted for the duration of the otherwise silent train ride. I’m sure other train passengers looked on at this homeless looking man and a young backpacker with the same cynical thoughts that I had. I could feel the eyes gazing on us, listening to our conversation, but at this point we were traveling together. It may have been an uncommon pair, but there we were. I let my guard down and enjoyed the ride.

We reached my stop before his, and I stood up to get off. I have to admit that I still half-expected him to give me a nudge for some spare change, but at the same time, by this point I wasn’t surprised when instead he gave me a wave. “Have a good day, man!”

I stepped onto the platform with a bounce in my step. There’s nothing that makes me happier than random acts of kindness; I felt guilty that I had doubted my new friend. I hoped that I had at least returned the favor in brightening his day by providing some momentary companionship.

Strangely enough, I encountered a remarkably similar situation in Los Angeles following a month out of the country. I had just arrived from Brazil and was excited to spend a day in the States before continuing on to New Zealand. I hopped on a city bus full of glaring eyes and rough looking characters. It was deja vu; a Vietnam Veteran sat down across from me and asked me where I was going. This time my attitude was a little different.

Vietnam War veterans are the subject of countless stereotypes and myths. Unfortunately, I was a part of perpetuating some of these. The least I can do is to try to spread some facts. Here are some interesting statistics from the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation:

2,709,918 Americans served in Vietnam, this number represents 9.7% of their generation.

25% (648,500) of total forces in country were draftees

There is no difference in drug usage between Vietnam Veterans and non-Vietnam Veterans of the same age group.

Vietnam Veterans are less likely to be in prison – only 0.5% of Vietnam Veterans have been jailed for crimes.

97% of Vietnam-era veterans were honorably discharged.

91% of actual Vietnam War veterans and 90% of those who saw heavy combat are proud to have served their country.

During the 2000 Census, the number of Americans falsely claiming to have served in-country is: 13,853,027. By this census, four out of five who claim to be Vietnam vets are not.